Biofortification of Crops: Effects of Nanofertilizers on Quality of Fruits and Vegetables
摘要
As per available literature, approx 9.2% populations of the world is affected by severe food insecurity due to low food quality. According to UN estimates, the world population will increase about 2.2 billion by 2050, which increases the number of people who will not have access to quality food. An innovative strategy to address this problem is biofortification, in which the bioavailable concentrations of nutrients are raised in edible parts of plants cultivated under ecofriendly environment using modern and traditional agricultural practices. The application of nanofertilizer along with traditional sustainable approaches emerges as an alternative system to increase absorption, translocation, accumulation of nutrients and improve the quality of fruits which makes it a novel tool for biofortification programmes. The aim of this chapter is to discuss the mechanisms of nanofertilizers in biofortification for the improvement of quality of fruits and vegetables.